Part A

Causes of drug abuse

1. Depression and Mental Illnesses
Depression in adolescents is not uncommon. Over one-third of high
school students reports regular feelings of sadness or hopelessness.
These students are likelier to consider and attempt suicide. Substance
abuse and mental illnesses such as depression often go hand-in-hand.
Young people who are depressed and suicidal often self-medicate with
drugs of abuse, increasing their risk of drug addiction.
2. Stress and Inability to Cope
While some tend to externalize their stress with aggression and
delinquency, some have a tendency to internalize their reactions to
stress. In most cases of severe stress, young people become depressed
and withdrawn. According to the survey, 41 percent of young people
report their inability to cope with stress as the main reason for using
drugs. Stressful life events may include a death or illness in family or
friends, parental divorce, changes in school or relationships, and moving
from home to home.
3. Low Self-Esteem
Low self-confidence frequently accompanies the teenage years. Body-
image and social image are often top priorities for high school students
who want to fit in. They associate weight loss with beauty and popularity.
They associate drinking, drug use, and smoking with being trendy, and
cool. They believe that drugs are the answer to their problems.
Teenagers with low self-confidence are twice as likely as those with
higher self-confidence to report drug use. Not only are high school
students more than double as likely to diet and engage in unhealthy
weight-related behaviours than adults, but they are also more likely to
use drugs or alcohol to try to control their weight.
4. Social Pressures
Many teenagers initiate drug use to fit in with their peers. Another study
of 11 - 13year old girls revealed that the most “popular” girls believe they
are under even more pressure to smoke, drink, and try drugs. According
to the report, the more friends a girl has who smoke, drink, or use drugs;
the likelier she is to do so herself. If five of close-friends drink alcohol, a
student is over seven times likelier to drink.
5. Academic Pressures
High school is undoubtedly a time of great academic pressure for young
people. It is the time that matters most for colleges, and the time in
which students come to a new, mature level of learning. Yet academics
and substance abuse can easily (and dangerously) intertwine. Teens
who get A’s and B ’s in school are at half the risk of drug use as teens
who have poor school performance.
6. Lack of Parent-Child Communication
One of the greatest things a parent can do to prevent their child’s drug
use is simply to communicate. If you believe your teenager is at risk of
using drugs, talk to her about the consequences of drug abuse and her
options. Teach them how to say no. Educate them about the risks of
substance abuse.
Research has proven that the majority of children who have
conversations with their parents about drinking or drug use are
reportedly less likely to smoke, drink, or use drugs. Over 50 percent of
these students reported that these conversations helped them learn new
things about alcohol or illegal drugs that they did not already know. A
lack of communication or relationship between student and their parents,
however, can lead to earlier initiation of alcohol use and a greater
likelihood of drug abuse in young person.

Solutions To Drug Abuse

1. Effectively deal with peer pressure. The biggest reason teens start
using illicit drugs is because their friends utilize peer pressure. No one
likes to be left out, and teens (and yes, some adults, too) find themselves
doing things they normally wouldn’t do, just to fit in. In these cases, you
need to either find a better group of friends that won’t pressure you into
doing harmful things, or you need to find a good way to say no. Teens
should prepare a good excuse or plan ahead of time, to keep from giving
into tempting situations.
2. Deal with life pressure. People today are overworked and
overwhelmed, and often feel like a good break or a reward is deserved.
But in the end, drugs only make life more stressful — and many of us all
too often fail to recognize this in the moment. To prevent using drugs as a
reward, find other ways to handle stress and unwind. Take up exercising,
read a good book, volunteer with the needy, create something. Anything
positive and relaxing helps take the mind off using drugs to relieve stress.
3. Seek help for mental illness. Mental illness and substance abuse
often go hand-in-hand. Those with a mental health illness may turn to
drugs as a way to ease the pain. Those suffering from some form
of mental health illness, such as anxiety, depression or post-traumatic
stress disorder should seek the help of a trained professional for
treatment before it leads to substance use.
4. Examine every risk factor. If you’re aware of the biological,
environmental and physical risk factors you possess, you’re more likely to
overcome them. A history of substance abuse in the family, living in a
social setting that glorifies drug abuse and/or family life that models drug
abuse can be risk factors.
5. Keep a well-balanced life. People take up drugs when something in
their life is not working, or when they’re unhappy about their lives or
where their lives are going. Look at life’s big picture, and have priorities in
order.

Types of drugs and their consequences

Marijuana: Marijuana smoke irritates the lungs, and people who smoke
marijuana frequently can have the same breathing problems as those
who smoke tobacco. These problems include daily cough and phlegm,
more frequent lung illness, and a higher risk of lung infections.

Alcohol: High blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, liver disease, and
digestive problems. Cancer of the breast, mouth, throat, esophagus,
voice box, liver, colon, and rectum. Weakening of the immune system,
increasing the chances of getting sick.
Xanax: The most common adverse effects of alprazolam
include impaired coordination, low blood pressure, difficulty speaking,
and increased libido. Additional adverse effects of Xanax include:
Decreased mental alertness. Confusion.
Ecstasy: There is some evidence that ecstasy can cause damage to
some parts of the brain and that regular, heavy use can lead to
depression. A person taking ecstasy regularly may find that they are not
eating or sleeping enough and are neglecting their health. They may
become “run down”, have reduced energy levels and be more at risk for
colds, flu and infections.

Cocaine: When a person continues to use cocaine over time, the brain
eventually adapts to the presence of the drug. Ultimately, tolerance can
develop, which means the person needs higher and more frequent
doses to achieve the same effects. Furthermore, cocaine has a high
potential for abuse and may lead to severe physical or psychological
dependence as well as significant withdrawal symptoms (e.g.,
depression, fatigue, slowed thinking, increased appetite, unpleasant
dreams, and insomnia)

Crystal Meth: Crystal meth use carries tremendous health risks,

including the potential for significant drug toxicity and overdose. While
methamphetamine can trigger an intense high, it can also have very
serious side effects. These side effects include: Rapid heart rate,
increased blood pressure, increased respiratory rate, elevated body
temperature.

Part B

Drug types

Alcohol
Alcohol affects everyone differently. But if you drink too much and too
often, your chance of an injury or accident goes up. Heavy drinking also
can cause liver and other health problems or lead to a more serious
alcohol disorder.
If you’re a man and you drink more than four drinks on any day or more
than 14 in a week, you’re drinking too much. For women, heavy drinking
means more than three drinks in one day or more than seven drinks a
week.
One drink is:

 12 ounces of regular beer

 8-9 ounces of malt liquor, which has more alcohol than beer
 5 ounces of wine
 1 1/2 ounces of distilled spirits like vodka and whiskey

Prescription and Over-the-Counter (OTC) Medicine

These can be just as dangerous and addictive as illegal drugs. You can
abuse medicine if you:

 Take medicine prescribed for someone else

 Take extra doses or use a drug other than the way it’s supposed to
be taken
 Take the drug for a non-medical reason

Types of prescription drugs that are most often abused include:

 Opioid pain relievers

 Stimulant medications used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder
 Anxiety and sleep medicines

The most commonly abused OTC drugs are cough and cold medicine that
have dextromethorphan, which in high doses can make you feel drunk or
intoxicated.

Heroin
This illegal drug is the natural version of manmade prescription opioid
narcotics. Heroin gives you a rush of good feelings at first. But when it
wears off, everything slows down. You’ll move and think more slowly, and
you may have chills, nausea, and nervousness. You may feel a strong
need to take more heroin to feel better.

Cocaine
This drug speeds up your whole body. When you use cocaine, you may
talk, move, or think very fast. You may feel happy and full of energy. But
your mood may then shift to anger. You may feel like someone is out to get
you. It can cause you to do things that don’t make sense.
Using cocaine for a long time will lead to strong cravings for the drug.

Marijuana
A growing number of states have legalized medical uses of marijuana. A
handful of states also allow recreational pot. But in most states, it’s still
illegal.
Marijuana can make you feel silly and laugh for no reason. Or you may feel
sleepy and forget things that just happened. Driving while high on pot is
just as dangerous as drunk driving. And heavy marijuana use can leave
some people “burned out” and not think or care about much.

Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products

You may not think of these as drugs. But tobacco has a chemical called
nicotine that gives you a little rush of pleasure and energy. The effect can
wear off fast and leave you wanting more. You can abuse and get addicted
to the nicotine in cigarettes, just like other drugs.

Consequences Of Drug Abuse

Isolation

Addiction quickly becomes a lifestyle. An addicted person dedicates

more and more of their attention to getting drugs, finding ways to use
and concealing their use from others. All of these behaviours separate
us from anyone not participating in our addiction, enabling it or at least in
denial or willing to look the other way. One of the first goals in getting
substance abuse help is to break through that wall of isolation. Knowing
they don’t have to fight the battle alone comes as a relief to almost
anyone caught up in the throes of active addiction.

If you find yourself tangled up in addiction, challenge yourself to break

that isolation. Tell the truth about what’s happening to someone you can
trust. If you see someone you care about isolating and suspect they may
need substance abuse help, give them a sign that you’re a safe place.
You are willing to listen without judgment and help if you can.
Stagnation

Getting stuck in our emotional development is another of the 10 effects

of drug abuse. Drug use dulls the senses. In trying to escape
uncomfortable things, we also miss many growth opportunities. The
mechanisms that help us learn from mistakes also fail to work properly
when under the influence. You will sometimes hear people in 12-step
fellowships say that their emotional growth seemed to stop at the age
when they began using, and there is certainly some truth to that. One of
the greatest blessings of recovery is the growth we begin to experience
as the fog clears.

Damaged Relationships

Relationships with family, friends and romantic partners can be

challenging even in the best of times and when we’re completely sober.
Introducing drugs and alcohol into the equation can only make things
worse. We’re more apt to fight and argue when we are irritable and not
feeling right. The obliteration of our senses can make us less empathetic
and aware of the needs of others. The choices we make while using and
the lies we may tell can also cause deep psychic wounds to the people
we love. One of the greatest gifts of recovery is that we get an
opportunity to repair this damage. There are no guarantees, but recovery
is about hope, and some miraculous things are bound to happen if you
stick to it with determination.

Financial Distress

Let’s face it. A drug habit can get expensive fast. If alcohol is your
substance of choice, it’s easy to run up a hefty bar tab quickly. Illegal
drugs come with the built-in black-market tax associated with any illicit
goods. On top of that, drinking and using tend to lower our inhibitions.
Impulse purchases and financial irresponsibility are common before
someone receives the substance abuse help they need. Money trouble
leads to stress and anxiety. Combined with the relentless desire to get
high and stay high, it’s a formula for more bad decisions and risk-taking.
Money trouble is almost always among the 10 effects of drug abuse that
people experience when addiction takes hold.
Health Problems

One of these 10 effects of drug abuse people are most familiar with is
the impact on physical health. Alcohol is hard on the vital organs,
especially the liver and stomach. Stimulants like methamphetamine and
cocaine can cause permanent heart damage and stroke.
Opioids, including heroin and prescription opioids, create long-term
imbalances in neurons and hormonal systems and damage the brain’s
vital white matter.

There is simply no way to abuse drugs for long without physical

consequences. No number of vitamins or amount of healthy eating or
exercise will offset it. With time and patience, we recover in both mind
and body, but we should never minimize the serious impact addiction
can have on human health.

Depression and Anxiety

Using drugs or alcohol frequently brings about depression and anxiety.

There are two main reasons for this. First, the biochemical effects of
drugs of abuse themselves often trigger depression and anxiety either
when using the drug or as its effects begin to subside and withdrawal
sets in. Secondly, the choices that drug abuse entails also lead to
depression and anxiety. No one can live a dishonest, duplicitous life for
long without becoming depressed and fearful. We aren’t built to live that
way. The good news is we don’t have to! Help is available; all we need
to do is ask.

Provoking Existing Mental Health Conditions

Many people are aware that depression and anxiety are among the 10
effects of drug abuse. But did you know that using drugs also frequently
triggered existing mental health disorders? Someone with a
predisposition to psychotic episodes may have never experienced one
until they begin abusing drugs. If you have a mental health issue,
diagnosed or otherwise, drug abuse can only worsen the symptoms.
Topic: Drug abuse
To: Sir/Madam
From: Tinotenda Mukosera
Date: 20 April 2023

Drug abuse is rising at an alarming rate, especially among the youths.

Here are some of the causes of drug abuse and solutions.

Stress is a major cause of drug abuse. While some tend to externalize

their stress with aggression and delinquency, some have a tendency to
internalize their reactions to stress. In most cases of severe stress,
young people become depressed and withdrawn. Young people report
their inability to cope with stress as the main reason for using drugs.
Stressful life events may include a death or illness in family or friends,
parental divorce, changes in school or relationships, and moving from
home to home.
Another reason is depression. Depression in adolescents is not
uncommon. Over one-third of high school students reports regular
feelings of sadness or hopelessness. These students are likelier to
consider and attempt suicide. Substance abuse and mental illnesses
such as depression often go hand-in-hand. Young people who are
depressed and suicidal often self-medicate with drugs of abuse,
increasing their risk of drug addiction.
It is also found that academic pressures push students into abusing
drugs. High school is undoubtedly a time of great academic pressure for
young people. It is the time that matters most for colleges, and the time
in which students come to a new, mature level of learning. Yet
academics and substance abuse can easily (and dangerously)
intertwine. Teens who get A’s and B ’s in school are at half the risk of
drug use as teens who have poor school performance.
To prevent drug abuse one must deal with life pressures. To prevent
using drugs as a reward, find other ways to handle stress and unwind.
Take up exercising, read a good book, volunteer with the needy, create
something. Anything positive and relaxing helps take the mind off using
drugs to relieve stress.

One can also learn to say no. No one likes to be left out, and teens find
themselves doing things they normally wouldn’t do, just to fit in. In these
cases, you need to either find a better group of friends that won’t pressure
you into doing harmful things, or you need to find a good way to say no.
Teens should prepare a good excuse or plan ahead of time, to keep from
giving into tempting situations.

I hope I managed to provide some enlightenment on the crisis of drug

abuse in schools.
 Questionnaire

1. Which school do u go to?

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2. Do students abuse drugs at your school?

Yes No

3. What type of drugs do they abuse?

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4. What are the causes of abusing drugs?

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5. What are the consequences of abusing drugs?

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6. What can be done to stop drug abuse?

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 Questionnaire

1. Which school do u go to?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Do students abuse drugs at your school?

Yes No

3. What type of drugs do they abuse?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. What are the causes of abusing drugs?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. What are the consequences of abusing drugs?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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6. What can be done to stop drug abuse?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Questionnaire

1. Which school do u go to?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Do students abuse drugs at your school?

Yes No

3. What type of drugs do they abuse?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. What are the causes of abusing drugs?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. What are the consequences of abusing drugs?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. What can be done to stop drug abuse?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Questionnaire

1. Which school do u go to?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Do students abuse drugs at your school?

Yes No

3. What type of drugs do they abuse?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. What are the causes of abusing drugs?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. What are the consequences of abusing drugs?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. What can be done to stop drug abuse?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Questionnaire

1. Which school do u go to?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Do students abuse drugs at your school?

Yes No

3. What type of drugs do they abuse?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. What are the causes of abusing drugs?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. What are the consequences of abusing drugs?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. What can be done to stop drug abuse?

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Pie Chart on Drugs being Abused by Students
Graph on Number of Students Abusing Drugs